


Forgotten Knight

by KodiakSage



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Horses, Hurt/Comfort, Minor Character Death, Post-Calamity, Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-27
Updated: 2018-09-17
Packaged: 2019-07-03 05:42:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 15,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15812577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KodiakSage/pseuds/KodiakSage
Summary: Zelda and Link have defeated the Calamity but Link did not regain his memory. They return to Hateno Village to heal and recover, and to not only get to know each other again, but to learn how to love each other again as well.





	1. Chapter 1

“Before we do any adventuring, we should go to my house,” Link said. “I have supplies there. Clothes, weapons, food. You can rest for a while. Heal.”

“You have a house?” Zelda's surprise was apparent in her face, replacing the undercurrent of sadness that had held steady in her since they began riding east along the roads. The ruins, the wildness of the country...Hyrule had changed as much as she had in these past 100 years. The bones were the same, the character, the feelings...but both had undergone a great trauma.

“In Hateno Village. Bolson was going to tear it down, but I convinced him to sell it to me.”

“Hateno Village...” Zelda echoed. “Isn't that where you're from?” Link didn't say anything. Perhaps he didn't remember. He hadn't given her a straight answer when she'd asked if he remembered her. “I have memories of you,” He'd said. And she knew that perhaps they were from the images she'd left on the Sheikahh Slate for him. But wasn't what she wanted to know.

Zelda's discomfort and misery grew with every passing mile. She'd been mistaken. Hyrule hadn't just changed, it had been ruined. Rubble dotted the landscape, and entire towns were missing, reduced to a few pillars of stone. There were no cities, no forts, and even Hateno Village, as they rode through the hills below, looked smaller and somehow diminished.

She watched Link for any sign of recognition. He nodded at the people in the village and directed his horse up and east, to a remote house across a bridge, nestled under the cliffs. A sign in the front said “Link's House.”

“This is your house? The one you bought?” Zelda asked, incredulous.

Link shrugged. “I needed somewhere to store my weapons and supplies.”

“But Link...this was your house, before the Calamity. This is the house that you grew up in. You truly don't remember?”

Her heart sank. If he didn't remember that this was his childhood home, surely his didn't remember her. The realization stuck like cold knife in her back, made her bend down and close her eyes, clutching the reigns with tight fists, arms limp.

Link just shook his head. He dismounted and led the horses to the shelter, then helped Zelda down. She searched his eyes desperately for some recognition. There was none.

She followed him into the house. It was cozy and clean, with a tidy table in the center of the big downstairs room and a bed up in the loft. Like any typical Hylian home. A thought occurred to her. Perhaps he bought this house because a part of him did remember. He seemed at home here, laying out his things and gathering up ingredients for dinner. His weapons and shields were mounted carefully on the walls, gleaming frostblades and a glinting trident, ready for whatever threat he had to face.

When he went out to cook, she sat and put her face in her hands to think. If he didn't know her now, then she would have to give him time to get to know her. If he didn't love her now, then perhaps he could learn to love her in time. He was still the same Link and she was still the same Zelda, no matter what they had been through. There was still hope.

*

They sat across from each other at dinner, a meal that Link had prepared on the cookpot outside and served on simple wooden dishes in the house. They left the door open to let in the breeze coming up off of the valley, the setting sun giving everything outside a rosy tint.

Zelda didn't have much of an appetite, despite how good it all smelled. She merely pushed her fried greens and steak around on her plate, not eating. “We spent a lot of time together you know, before the calamity. I used to know you quite well.”

Link looked up from his mushroom soup at her, but didn't respond.

“We traveled around a lot, alone. You told me about your life, your family, your training.”

“I don't...remember any of that.” Link looked down at his plate, as if ashamed of his lack of memory. He desperately wanted to please her, to make her happy, to fulfill his duty, but as much as he grasped, there was just nothing there. Whoever he had been before...was he still that man? What if this Princess, who had put so much of her faith in him, found him different than before? Worse that before?

There was long silence. Zelda held back tears.

“Maybe we can get to know each other again,” Link offered, his face flushing red. He continued to eat, but didn't meet Zelda's gaze. She nodded, and sniffed back the tears that were threatening. Link noticed, but he didn't know what to do or say.

“I'm sorry, your highness.”

“You have nothing to apologize for. It is I...who should apologize. If I had found my power sooner, I could have saved you before you almost died saving me. I could have saved Hyrule one hundred years ago, and stopped this destruction and ruin before it happened. I could have kept Mipha, and Daruk, and Urbosa from---”

Link slammed his hands on the table, making Zelda jump. His face was an angry scowl. “You did everything you could! It's not your fault that your mother died before she could teach you! It's not your fault that Ganon returned when he did! It's not your fault that Mipha wasn't strong enough to beat the Waterblight, or that Daruk couldn't beat the Flameblight, or that Lady Urbosa fell to the Thunderblight! They could have been stronger. Your father could have been a kinder teacher...I could have been a better knight.”

Zelda was frozen. This was more words than Link had put together...well in a hundred years, probably. And in defense of her, too. She felt ashamed of herself for being so self-centered. Of course, she couldn't blame herself for the entire Calamity. She was but one part in the great machine, doing the bidding of the Goddess.

“You're right.” Tears were falling now, dripping down her face and onto her clasped hands. “There were many reasons that Hyrule fell to Ganon for 100 years.”

“You can be sorry for your part, if you must,” Link conceded, “and I am sorry that I'm not who I was before. All I know is this Hyrule, ruined and monster-plagued and dangerous. But beautiful, and filled with secret wonders. Princess...” Finally, he reached out his hand to tentatively brush her elbow. “Please don't cry. I may not have my own memories of you, but it hurts to see you upset.”

“Oh Link,” Zelda stood and threw herself into his arms, burying her head in the crook of his neck. Link was surprised—he wasn't used to physical contact except for fighting. He put his hands on her long soft golden hair and breathed in the sweet smell of her. It reminded him of a certain flower...the swift violet? Blue saffina? No. Silent princess. How fitting.

“I loved you, when you were my knight. I loved you, when I was holding off Ganon, tortured for 100 years and hoping that you would come back to me. I loved you, when I saw you fighting in the Castle and riding on the field, and I still love you, even if you don't remember me at all.”

Link nodded, holding her. He knew. Just as he knew that he loved her. The ache in his chest, and the familiary of holding her. It just felt right.

“I might not know you, but I love you,” he whispered.

Zelda laughed a shaky laugh and pulled back, her arms sill around him, her eyes still wet with tears. “Then it was all worthwhile.”

*

They went to bed--well, Zelda went to bed. Link locked up the house but insisted on sleeping downstairs on some spare blankets.

“I've slept in worse places,” he reassured the Princess.

It felt strangely intimate to sleep in his bed—a bed that he had slept in many times, that still smelled like him. She was even wearing one of his old shirts to sleep in. Another intimacy. It was strange to be alone, to sleep alone, after a century of being locked in a battle of wills, incorporeal and struggling every second. She tried to close her eyes and sleep, but every time she started to drift off, she jerked back to full alert, sitting up and gasping, her heart racing.

“Princess?” A soft voice came from the stairs at the other end of the loft. “Are you alright?”

“N-no” Zelda stuttered. She forced herself to take a deep breath, so slow her heart rate and remember who she was and where she was and when she was. “I w-w-ill be in a moment. Nightmares.”

The figure in the darkness began to slink back down the steps, but she raised a hand towards him. “Wait!” she called out softly. “Would you sit with me for a minute?”

Foolishness, she thought, as he obediently padded towards her. He was shirtless, the moonlight through the window illuminating acres of pale skin and toned muscles. He pulled the chair from his desk over beside the bed and sat awkwardly.

Zelda lay back in the bed, staring at the ceiling. When she spoke, her voice was a whisper. “I was dreaming about the calamity. I dreamed that I gave up, and you—and the shrine of resurrection was destroyed, with you sleeping there inside it.”

“I'm here,” Link said steadily.

Zelda rolled over to face him and held out a hand. “I know. I feel better when you're here. I know I'm not alone.”

Link tentatively reached out his own and hand placed it in hers. She gripped him and smiled. “Thank you.”

Her eyes closed. This time there was no panic, no nightmares, no sudden awakening. When her eyes fluttered open he was gone, the sunlight streaming in through the window. She could smell bacon and rosemary, and hear the clanking of plates and utensils. It was so utterly ordinary that it took a minute to bring herself back up to speed on her life.

“Good morning,” Link smiled at her, so incredibly familiar. She half expected him to continue into some reminiscence, or a joke, or to tease her about her frizzing bed-head braids, or to glance down at her chest to see if she was wearing a corset or not...but no. He merely smiled, and served her a plate of hot bacon and eggs, with a glass of warm milk, fresh from someone's cow in town. He must have gone out early already, for he was dressed and ready, his hair brushed and tied back, his eyes bright and cheerful.

“Thank you. I slept well after you sat with me.”

“I'm glad,” he said. “If you're feeling up to it, I was hoping we could take a ride down to the beach.”

“I would like that, thank you.” Zelda said. She was suddenly shy, as if he were a stranger, and not Link of all people. Her other half, the only man she'd ever loved, and held, and kissed. But he didn't know. He didn't know how they had once loved each other.

*

“I only have Epona for now, but she's strong and gentle, and she'll carry us both if we take it easy.”

Zelda was dressed in simple Hylian traveling clothes, purchased from the shop in the village and dyed a cheerful forest green. She'd braided her hair and wound it around her head like a crown, but she doubted that she looked very regal.

Link was saddling the horse, a beautiful chestnut mare with large gentle eyes. Zelda was familiar with horses, and had a sudden twinge of longing for her own long-dead mount, a pure-white thoroughbred she'd named Blossom. Epona turned her head to look at Zelda, snuffing gently at her hands, looking for a treat.

“There's apples in the saddlebags,” Link said. Zelda took one and fed it to Epona. At least some creatures were easy to please.

“May I?” Link held out a hand to her and her heart stopped. She stared at him blankly for a moment, until he blushed a little. “Help you up, I mean.”

“Oh, yes. It's just...that's how you used to ask me to dance. Just exactly like that.” She gave him her hand and he knelt so she could step up on his knee and onto the horse, not quite as gracefully as she'd hoped, but plenty competent. Link himself swung up in front of her. His firm buttocks was between her legs, the broad expanse of his back in front of her, their thighs right up against each other. It was closer than they had been in ages.

“I've got my sword and shield in the bags for your comfort, but I can't chance not having my bow out while we ride.”

Zelda realized what he meant when they started and she grabbed onto his waist to steady herself. She didn't want the Master Sword's pommel in her face if they were to stop suddenly.

“Sorry,” she said.

“I don't mind,” he said, and then “Hup!” to the horse and they were off at a cantor, down the road which was barely more than a thinning of the grass and into the valley beneath the village.

They started off down the road and she enjoyed the view of the quaint village tucked into the sides of the cliffs, protected from storms but still close enough to enjoy the salty breeze. When the wind was right she could smell it, humid and fishy and fresh.

Epona was jostling at the bit and pulling slightly at the reigns. Link looked over his shoulder at her, his face alight with boyish excitement. “Are you up for a run?” he asked. Zelda nodded, and Link let Epona go. He stood slightly in the saddle as they raced through the valley below the village. Zelda had to wrap her arms around his waist in earnest, but she knew enough horsemanship to move with the horse as she galloped, swallowing up the ground below in huge leaps. Her heart raced and she laughed out loud with the joy of it.

Link pulled gently at the reigns after only a few minutes so that they all could catch their breath, first to a cantor, then a brisk walk, then a slow one. “She usually can go much longer, but she's not used to carrying to people. Besides, we're almost there,” Link explained over his shoulder.

Indeed, there was a narrow strip of sand between two cliffs that wound towards the Kitano Bay. They passed under some rock formations that blocked out the sun, and then finally they were there, with the ocean stretched out before them, only a slightly darker blue than the wide expanse of cloudless sky.

“Want to walk or ride?” Link asked. He swung down from the saddle and offered her that hand again. How could she refuse? She let him help her down, trying not to be too obvious about how much his touch meant to her. “It's beautiful. I don't think I've ever been out here before,” Zelda remarked. She ran through the sand to the edge of the water, shading her eyes against the sun and peering at the horizon.

“What's that island out there?” She asked, pointing towards the south. Link dropped the reigns and joined her at the edge of the water.

“The small one is a shrine, the big one is Eventide island. I once had to spend two days out there, completely naked with no weapons.” For all this admission, he looked oddly nostalgic about it.

“Whatever for?” Zelda asked.

“Shrine quest. The monk gave me my clothes and gear back after I finished the challenge. I even had to fight a Hinox.”

She smiled. This sort of half-boast storytelling was just like the Link she knew before, when they had been friends. She wanted to tell him so, to take his hand and walk through the sand and live in the past for a while, but she knew that reminding him of things that he didn't remember made him uncomfortable. Or maybe it just made him sad.

They did walk though, Epona trailing behind on her own, wandering but never too far. Link caught twelve crabs and Zelda made him register them in the Sheikahh slate so that she could know what kind they were and what properties they held. Link said he mostly just ate them blackened, and that they never did anything special, which got her excitedly talking about her research. Link laughed and agreed to help cook each subspecies separately and record the results.

They sat on a blanket and ate the lunch Link had packed, then walked some more until the sun was starting to sink behind mount Ebon and the shadows moved across the sand. Zelda was exhausted, but she'd had such a fun, normal day. She was a little bit unsteady on her feet, so it was natural that Link offered for her to sit in front to steady her. He promised that they would ride slowly, anyhow, since Epona was tired out too.

It was strangely intimate, sitting in front. Their positions were reversed from the morning, and she was all too aware of her bottom between his legs and her back up against his chest, Then, to reach the reigns he had to put his arms around her in a sort of pseudo embrace. She could even feel his breath against her ear.

They went slowly in the darkening light, and they didn't talk much. Zelda tried to be considerate and not squirm, seeing as she was basically in his lap, but as Epona began to climb the steep hills up to Hateno Village, she had to adjust.

“Sorry,” Link muttered, and it took a moment for Zelda to feel the slight bulge against her buttocks where he was obviously fighting for self control.

“I don't mind,” Zelda said. She could feel the heat rising in her face, and the reciprocal heat in her own pants, a physical response to his physical response. “I mean, we were...before....” she didn't know how to explain that she'd seen him naked, held him in her arms, been completely vulnerable under him...she'd avoided remembering, but she couldn't stop the flood now. Her heart seemed to seize up a little, and her breath caught in her throat. Any second now, her eyes would start watering.

“Usually I just climb up the mountain behind my house and then jump off the cliff to get to the beach.” Link said. His voice was light, trying to distract them from the things that they had said and felt, and the things that remained unsaid as well.

“I know you're very brave,” Zelda sniffed, trying to smile and push thoughts of a naked Link from her mind.

“Well, I had my paraglider. You'll have to try it sometime.”

Zelda shook her head in disbelief. “I may have faced down a 10,000 year old demon, but I'm definitely not brave enough to jump off a cliff.”

“You get used to it. It was the only way off the plateau, just after I woke up. I met...the ghost of an old man. I found out later who he was. He gave me the paraglider.”

“Who was he?” Zelda asked, but Link shook his head.

“I was trying to lighten the mood. Sorry.”

“My father,” Zelda knew, suddenly. For all his failings, King Roam really did want to help. And he had, apparently, in the end.

They were silent again. Zelda wrapped her arms around herself, but not because she was cold. They were making the last ascent, across the bridge and towards his house.

“Would you like me to sit with you again tonight?” he asked.

“Yes Please.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the sake of my story, and to avoid writing minors in sexual situations, I have changed the timeline slightly so that before the calamity there was a year in which Link was Zelda's champion and she hated him (she was 17) and a year in which she loved him (she was 18). Thanks for understanding, hope you enjoy!


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, Zelda woke again to the sun on her face, but when she opened her eyes and looked out the window, she saw Link standing naked by the pond. Her heart stopped and she told herself to look away, but she couldn't. She soaked up every glimpse of that familiar body. His hair was down, he was obviously about to go for a swim to wash off the previous day's sand and sweat. He glanced over at the house once, then jumped into the water and sunk to his neck, then dunked under. Zelda watched unabashedly from the window. She wished that she had the courage to go out there and join him. After a few minutes he emerged, soaking wet. He dried off with an old towel and pulled his pants on before heading back into the house. He looked up at the loft when he entered and his cheeks flushed.

“You're up early,” he said. “Were you...” He glanced out the door towards the pond.

“Nothing I haven't seen before,” she said breezily. She ducked behind the curtain he'd hung for her to change behind and got dressed, leaving him to puzzle that out while he cooked the pancakes and fried the bacon for breakfast.

They spent the morning down in the village, helping people with various little chores. The dye shop needed part of the roof mended, another house had a fallen tree in the yard to be chopped up for firewood. Someone else needed a fence repaired. A small boy tagged along asking questions which Link answered cheerfully. They paid him in future favors and pittances, but he seemed to like the work. Much like the little boy, Zelda tagged along. If they knew she was the long-missing Princess, they didn't mention it.

One old woman smiled sweetly at her. “I'm glad that Link has found someone. He's such a good young lad.” Zelda murmured a polite thanks and continued on her way. Sometimes she still felt alien around the people of Hyrule. That old woman's parents probably hadn't even been born before the Calamity. It gave her a heartache to think about.

They ate lunch at the big house in town, then climbed back up the hill. Link had promised to cook the crabs from their previous day's expedition for dinner.

He crouched by the cookpot, and Zelda was seated on an overturned log nearby. The crabs were simmering in the pot with some mushrooms; three razorclaws of yet unknown special properties. He was quiet, probably tired after a long morning of working and helping, but Zelda was growing familiar with this new Link, and she could tell that he was thinking hard about something. She resisted asking, and sure enough, he looked up at her with a serious gaze.

“I'm sorry I'm not who you want me to be.” Link said quietly. There was no cynicism or irony in his words. “But I don't envy you your memories of how things were before. It must make all of this....” he motioned in general at Hyrule in its ruined state, “much harder to bear.”

“Don't be sorry,” Zelda said as gently as she could. “We've each talked about our failings before the Calamity. You are still you, wether you remember how you were before or not.”

“Of all the things though,” Link said, and now there was a slight tinge of despair in his voice. “I wish I could remember you.”

This time it was Zelda who couldn't think of what to say. She sat and watched the crabs simmer. In a way it was a strange mercy that he couldn't remember. Her entire world had crumbled. Everyone she'd ever known was dead. Even Link, the one person she'd sworn to protect, hadn't come out unscathed. But then, neither had she. Living with her ghosts was going to take getting used to.

“Can you tell me one thing though?” Link asked.

“Of course.” Zelda said.

“Were we...” he cleared his throat and looked at the sky. “Were we intimate?”

Zelda smiled and hugged her legs up to her chest. “Yes.” She said. She wasn't sure how much to say. “I miss that part of being with you, I'm not going to lie. You are...” She trailed off, lost in gazing at the wind in his sandy hair, those piercing blue eyes, those muscled limbs coiled and ready for war, but capable of so much gentleness.

“So you were watching me swim this morning?” he asked, raising his eyebrows at her.

“Unashamedly,” Zelda said with a wicked smile. She was relieved when Link laughed. But she sobered a little bit, remembering his reaction when they were riding together yesterday. “I promise I won't pressure you into anything.” And it broke her heart to add, “We can just be friends if you like.”

Link didn't reply. He busied himself sifting the crabs out to a waiting bowl of seasonings and adding the next batch to the pot. When that was done, he had to go in and prep the vegetables, and Zelda went to get more water from the pump. When she returned, they ate, sampling the different batches of crab and taking turns swinging the wooden practice sword against a cushion strapped to the tree in the front.

After many trials, they decided that the effects were negligible at best, but perhaps the razorclaw crabs did increase power and the ironshells, as the name suggested, might increase one's defense. They found this out when Zelda accidentally smacked Link in the shins with a backswing of her wooden sword and he didn't crumple to the ground in pain.

*

“Would you like me to sit with you tonight?” Link asked again.

“No, thank you. I think I'll be okay. It can't be comfortable for you.”

“I don't mind,” Link said. But Zelda was sure. She changed into her nightclothes behind the curtain and cheerfully climbed into the bed. He smiled and nodded and went down the steps to his pallet by the door.

Zelda told herself she was sure. She laid in the bed and imagined that Link was there beside her. That he remembered her and he loved her. She closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Her own screams woke her up, and she was out of bed, halfway down the stairs when she collided with Link on his way up to her.

“Are you alright?” Link asked, his arms went around her naturally, her face in the crook of his neck, her tears on his bare chest, her arms curled up tight between them.

“No,” she sobbed, “No, no no. I see it all happening again. The beasts and guardians turning against us. All of them dying, the castle collapsing...and we were powerless!” Her whole body shook with the terror and despair. Link walked her back to the bed and sat with her on the edge, still holding her.

“I'm glad you don't remember. I'm so grateful that this burden, didn't fall to you along with all the others you've endured. Oh Link...”

“I'm here,” he said, steady and solid.

She gradually calmed. Her breathing slowed and her heart rate dropped back to normal. She was still shaky and afraid.

“Will you stay?” She asked.

“I'll sit here if you want, until you fall asleep.”

“Will you—please—can you hold me?”

He was silent and unreadable in the darkness, and Zelda cursed herself for asking. He was going to reject her, he just wanted to be friends. He only loved her as a Knight loved his Princess.

He swung his legs up and lay beside her, adjusting the blanket so that it fell over both of them. He was bare-chested and warm beside her. All solid muscle and soft skin. The smell of him was like a dream, sweat and horses and spices from cooking.

“Until you fall asleep,” he said.

She cried again, but softly, and he held her until she slept.

  
*

He was still there in the morning. Zelda opened her eyes and his face was there, eyes closed, mouth slightly open, hair everywhere. One heavy arm was still draped over her waist, rising and falling . She barely breathed, for fear of waking him. She wanted to touch his cheek, run her hands down his shoulders and arm, encircle his waist and wake him with a kiss, but she didn't. He didn't know her. This Link might be a virgin for all she knew, even if his body wasn't. She quashed her jealousy over an unknown hypothetical other woman and enjoyed her view, and the feeling of his body against her.

The sun was barely rising when the cuccos started calling, and Link's eyes squished together and then opened slowly. It took him a second to focus on her, and then he was scrambling out of the bed, pulling the covers with him and falling to the floor.

“Sorry!” he said. “I sleep easier in a bed than on the ground...I didn't mean to...” he was gathering up the blankets and putting them back on top of her, backing away with his face red.

“I don't mind,” Zelda said, her smile sad. He'd never had that reaction when waking up beside her, before. Waking up together had always meant kisses and cuddling and...it hurt to think about it. She extricated herself from the mess of blankets that was the bed. Link was already halfway down the stairs and out the door.

After she dressed, she saw he was outside doing his sword forms. He wore his Hylian tunic today, the bright blue almost outshining the sky. She watched him silently for a while, then cooked them some omelets using a recipe he had taught her. When he came in, shining with sweat, he gave her a delighted smile and dug in, finishing three omelets and a bowl of simmered fruit in just a few minutes.

“I have to make a trip to Kakariko Village. A traveler in town said that Impa was ill. Purah left yesterday, so it must be serious. Do you want to go? I can borrow a horse for you from someone in the village. I know you wanted to lay low and recover for a while before revealing yourself, but I'm sure Master Impa would love to see you. She implied that she had known you, before.”

Her heart dropped. Link was going to leave her? She knew that he spent most of his time traveling around Hyrule, and that this stopover at his house in Hateno village was just a reprieve for her more than anything. He had offered to let her stay here until she was ready to resume her role as Princess, but now that she had a taste of this slow-paced life with him, she wasn't sure she'd ever be ready to go back. It was silly to think that he'd take time off to care for her. Hadn't he done enough for her? Hadn't he rescued her from that castle? Hadn't he shot the arrows that felled Ganon? Even if he deserved a reprieve, he wouldn't take it.

Link was a knight, before all else. Whether he remembered taking his oaths or not, he was doing a spectacular job of upholding them. Her heart sang out with love for him. She'd been afraid to leave the safety of Hateno Village and see the kingdom for what it was, to be assaulted by the reminders of all that she'd lost.

“I'd rather stay with you, if you don't mind.” She said. “And it might be nice to see Impa again.”

“I don't mind.” Link smiled. “I was hoping you'd say yes. Kakariko village is just like it used to be, according to Impa and Paya. The waterfalls, the lanterns...did you ever visit it, before?”

“Yes. With you, on the way to the Holy Spring at Mount Lanayru.”

He reached across the table and covered her hand with his. “I want you to see that Hyrule isn't all abandoned ruins and monster enclaves. I want you to laugh again, and live, and make new friends. I'm know I'm not great company.”

“You are so!” Zelda insisted, but Link just laughed.

“I suppose anyone would be good company after 100 years of fighting Ganon,” he conceded.

Zelda smiled and shook his head. How could he joke about things like that? It was why she loved him, she supposed. “I know I'm not good company, what with the crying and nightmares and reminding you all the time.”

His gaze softened and he added his other hand to the first, taking her hand between his and squeezing. “You're healing. And you're very, very nice to look at. It makes up for most everything else.”

This time Zelda laughed, and they got up from the table and prepared to go.


	3. Chapter 3

The horse they borrowed was old and slow, which suited Zelda just fine, even if part of her wished that they could ride together again. Link promised to catch a horse and tame it for her. She pondered that idea, roaming Hyrule with her knight, righting wrongs and helping people. Her heart warmed at the thought. It made her previous wish of staying in Hateno village with him forever seem...small. 

There were only two small pockets of violence on the trip to Kakariko village. Zelda hung back and watch Link dispense with the Moblins and Bokoblins with practiced efficiency, his arrows hitting home and his swings powerful and exact. The monsters screeched as they died, and Zelda helped him search the campsites for arrows and ore. 

“With the blood moons gone, they should stay dead.” Link said. “It's nice to feel like I'm actually making a difference now.” Far from being tired, he looked energized by the fight. He was made for this. 

“Are you hurt?” Zelda asked. 

“Not much. Hungry, mostly.” 

The rode on a ways, then stopped to eat at Fort Hateno. It was unrecognizable from the bustling garrison it had been in the past. They were up on the crumbling wall, overlooking the Blatchery Plains, where they had once made their last stand and Link had almost died. 

In the present, the stone carapaces of long-defeated guardians stood like etched boulders among the stands of trees. A gentle breeze fluffed at their hair, carrying the scents of summer grasses and wildflowers. 

“Aha!” Link stood and pointed at a herd of horses in the distance. “Which one do you want, Princess?”   
“Surprise me,” she said. 

True to his word, he soon returned to the base of the wall on the back of a wily blue mare with a blazing white mane. Zelda climbed down and greeted them, her hand outstretched with an apple. 

“She's not tame yet,” Link said, as the mare skittered away from Zelda and nearly bucked Link off. “You ride Epona and I'll work on getting this one under con—Woooah!” he clung valiantly to the blue mare with his thighs but she was too spirited and managed to buck him off. He fell to the ground with a thud and a roll, and the mare suddenly was still, tossing her head and snorting at him. She even walked over to Zelda and ate the apple out of her hand. Link joined her, rubbing his backside and wincing.

“I'm going to call her Bliss,” Zelda said. “Thank you.” 

“Not Tempest?” Link suggested. “I'll ride her for a while, help her get used to the saddle. You take Epona, and old Ninny can follow us.” 

They continued on to Kakariko village, and by the time they arrived at the tunnel-like entrance to Kakariko Village, Bliss was plodding along as gently as old Ninny. 

“She should be good for you on the ride back. We can stop and get a saddle from Dueling Peaks too, on the way.” Link said, but Zelda was barely listening. They had come up the incline and through the gates to Kakariko village, and it was splayed out below them like something straight out of the past. It was near evening now, and little lanterns hung from doorways. Children ran and played between the wooden houses, their curved roofs and new paint like something from a dream of long ago. 

“Oh, thank Hylia. And thank you Link.” 

A child ran up to Link, plucking at his boots. “Did you bring any fire lizards with you?” 

“Not today, sorry. I brought a Princess instead.” 

The boy looked back at Zelda who flushed pink. His eyes went wide and his mouth dropped. He looked from Link to Zelda, absolutely star struck. 

“The one you went to save? You did it? Did she kiss you?” 

Link laughed. “Go tell Paya and Impa that we're here.” He said. The boy ran off as fast as his little legs could carry him. 

“I didn't realize you had so steep a price for your services,” Zelda said from underneath coy lowered lashes. “Does every damsel you save reward you with a kiss?” 

Link helped her down from Epona. It was his turn to flush slightly. “I don't know where he got that from. Stories and legends, I guess.” He kept his arms around for for a moment longer than necessary, their eyes locked together. 

“Just ask,” She said, before he could pull away, her voice barely more than a whisper. “Please.” 

Link went still, and Zelda could almost hear his heart beating in her ears, his eyes went to her mouth, his hands tightened on her waist. 

“Link! Welcome back!” 

They broke apart and Zelda helped him lead the horses to an open pen. The greeter was an old man, huffing and puffing with his sword resting on his shoulder. 

“We heard that the Calamity surrounding the castle had disappeared. I take it that was your doing?” 

“Mine and hers,” Link nodded to Zelda as he unstrapped the saddles and got the horses their feed and water. Zelda began brushing them out with the curry combs in the stalls. 

The man looked around Epona's flank and met Zelda's gaze. 

“By the goddess herself--” The man dropped to one knee, right there on in the horse stall. “Your highness!” 

“Oh, please stand! There's no need for formalities.” She helped the old man to his feet, her face reddening. 

“So it's gone then? Calamity Ganon has been sealed away? There were rumors, but until you arrived here, no one was sure what to believe.” 

“It's gone.” Link confirmed with a nod. “I had some things to take care of, but I wanted to come in person and tell Impa the news. She's helped me immensely in this task.” 

“Of course.” The man looked at Link with profound respect. “When Impa gave you that tunic, we thought she was crazy. But here you are...Here you both are. I must warn you though. She's not well.” 

Link's face hardened. This wasn't going to be the cheerful visit that he had led Zelda to believe it might be. The man walked with them through the village, down the hill past friendly faces, the bustle of a regular village on a regular day. When they arrived at the largest house in the town, framed in by elegant waterfalls from the cliffs behind, the guards let them pass with a nod and bow. 

Paya and Purah stood talking quietly in the house. Paya's face lit up when she saw Link, and her eyes widened when she saw Zelda. 

“Link! It's so good to see you!” The silver-haired Sheikah girl greeted them. “And your highness, Princess Zelda! We are at your service!” Her bow and warm smile made Zelda feel warm and happy, biting away the hollowness of that almost-kiss in the horse stall. But that warm smile soon faded to anxiousness. The girl's eyes were red as if she'd been crying, and her hands were twisting in front of her. “I'm glad you're here. Grandmother hasn't been feeling well. I'm afraid...” 

The young girl beside her, Impa's elder sister Purah and product of an aging-experiment-gone-wrong, cut in. “She's dying.” Purah's usual bubbly demeanor was subdued, and her voice was tinged with despair. 

“Take me to her,” Link said. Paya nodded and led them up the stairs to the bedroom where Impa was laying. She was shockingly old and tiny, nothing like the imposing Sheikah advisor Zelda remembered, but neither Link nor Zelda made any reaction. Link only smiled and knelt beside the old woman, reaching out with one hand to touch her shoulder. 

“Link,” Impa said, slow but firm. “You have succeeded.” 

“Yes Impa. I found her. Thank you for helping me. She's here now.” 

Impa raised her gaze to Zelda, who was standing behind Link. 

“Princess. It is good to have you back. I hope you are recovering from your ordeal. Hyrule owes you a great debt.” 

“And you, for keeping our traditions and stories alive, and guiding Link in his journey,” Zelda said, her innate diplomacy asserting itself without even trying. She knelt beside Link. 

“My time is waning. But I am glad to have lived long enough to see you both succeed, and to see you, at long last, freed from your confinement. I have prayed for you every day, Princess.” 

“Thank you,” Zelda said. She was trembling, awed by the force of the woman before her, who had lived her entire live in an age of darkness, who persevered and kept her small corner of the kingdom safe. 

“Rest now, Impa,” Link said. He tucked the blankets around her. “We'll stay in the village until you pass on.” 

“It won't be long,” Impa assured them. “My purpose has been fulfilled. My spirit will rest easy when it goes.” 

They left with heavy hearts, out into the village below, bustling and carrying on, oblivious to their great matriarch suffering her final days in their midst—though not everyone was oblivious. Link and Zelda spent the evening out of doors, at the tables overlooking the pond behind Impa's house. Villagers came and went, ranging from friendly to curious, to say hello to Link and meet his strange companion. A few recognized Zelda for who she was, or else the rumors of her return had been spread around the village. A few even looked sadly over at Impa's house, aware of the situation which Link confirmed with a silent nod and bowed head. 

“It's almost like holding court,” Zelda sighed when they had a free moment to themselves. Someone had brought them dinner just after sunset, and then the crowd left them in peace to eat. 

“Will you take up your title then, and rule over the Kingdom?” Link asked. “I'm afraid that as a lowly knight I'll be somewhat below you. Would your father have approved of you sleeping in my loft? Riding astride my horse?”

“We did a lot of things he wouldn't have approved of,” Zelda said. She wanted to be coy and joking, but she couldn't help but blush a little bit at the memory. 

“Like what?” Link asked. He was sitting beside her companionably, their legs a safe few inches away. When he spoke, he moved so that his thigh resting up against hers. She became hyper aware of him suddenly, his breathing, his body, how his elbow rested nonchalantly on the table in front of them. 

“I'm sure you can imagine,” Zelda said, her voice soft and her cheeks red. Memories of their past relationship swam to the forefront of her mind but how could she tell him about—all of that? All the sweet little moments that led to their first kiss? How she'd slipped into one of the cold springs and he'd had to undress her and rub her down and warm her with his body so she didn't die of chills? How about that night on the guard tower, when their friend Hutten stood watch and whistled if someone was coming, when she had her hand in his pants and his face was buried in her chest? Her heart beat faster and she clutched her face in her hands. 

“So much,” she whispered. He put a hand on her shoulder. 

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable,” he said. Always with the apologies. Zelda leaned into him, her arms naturally encircling his chest. They locked eyes, and no one moved. The only sound was the crashing waterfalls behind them, and the splashes of the fish in the pond. Most of the villagers had gone to bed. It was close to midnight, with the sliver of pale moon high above them. 

“I don't mind,” Zelda said, like she always did. But it was true, more true now than ever. She would love Link even if they were never intimate again. She would love him as a Princess, or a peasant, or a goddess incarnate, or just a regular girl. She would--

“May I have my kiss now?” Link interrupted her thoughts. One of his hands were was on her cheek, and he searched her face for a sign. 

“Yes,” Zelda whispered and their lips met, and it was just like that first time, more than a hundred years ago, another lifetime, two lifetimes, three. Then her lips parted and it was like those hundred years had never happened. He was shy and gentle at first, but quickly his body remembered what his mind did not. His mouth opened and the kiss deepened, Zelda whimpering against him with want, and memory, and love. When they parted, there was awe in his eyes. 

“That was so familiar...like swinging the Master Sword, or riding a horse.” He put a hand to his own lips, but he didn't move away from her, didn't stop searching her with those deep sky eyes. 

“I guess being compared to a horse is a good thing...?” Zelda said, and then, more seriously, “I tried to tell you.” 

Link shook his head. “I didn't not believe you, exactly. I just didn't know how I could have forgotten something like that.” He pulled her to his chest, breathing deeply. “I just need time. I need to take this slowly. A part of me thinks of you like a stranger and can't understand why I'm so devoted to you, but a part of me loves you and needs you like the air I breathe.” 

Zelda buried her face in his chest and felt her eyes watering again. “You can have as much time as you need.” 

“I'm sorry,” he said. But she knew that he meant, “I love you.” 

“I--” She started her usual reply, but then she looked up into his eyes. “I love you.” 

They went back to the inn, side by side and slept on the floor, sitting beside her bed, their hands entwined. There were no nightmares.


	4. Chapter 4

In the morning, they were informed that Master Impa had passed on, in the company of her sister and granddaughter. Link and Zelda paid their respects and agreed to stay for the funeral the following day.

In the afternoon they walked the paths through the forest above the village, spotting fairies and lizards as they crossed their paths.

“Do you think she was waiting to die until she saw us?” Link asked. His face was pained. “You know about these things, don't you?”

“I think maybe Hylia granted her wish to see you and me one last time, perhaps. I don't know any more than anyone else, even as the goddess incarnate. That's beyond my scope.” She spotted a lizard on a tree, but it noticed her before she could snatch it.

“We'd be that old right now if there hadn't been a calamity,” Link mused. “If I didn't die in service first, like my father.”

“I would be Queen, probably. With my heroic knight husband.”

“Would that have been allowed?” Link asked, his eyebrows raised.

“If I was Queen I could marry whoever I wanted. And I probably could have convinced my father, for the sake of seeing grandchildren before he died.”

“You want children?” Link asked.

“Yes. We talked about it once. You said...never mind. Do you want children?”

“Yes. A whole army of little knight-children.”

Zelda laughed. “That's what you said before.”

Link smiled, then went still. His hand darted out and he held up a hightailed lizard for her to see. “If you can't be sneaky, you have to be fast.”

“Very well done, sir knight.” Zelda said. Her hand clasped over his, the lizard still in his grasp. She tilted her head. “Are you still a knight? With no kingdom to serve?”

“I serve you. Always.”

They held hands all the way back down to the village.

*

Though her heart was heavy with Impa's death, Zelda took comfort in the small things, like well made rice-balls, and the beautiful music of the ceremony. No one asked her to speak, for which she was grateful. The villagers all told stories of Impa's prestigious past as advisor to the King of Hyrule, leader of the Sheikah tribe, defender of Kakoriko Village, and enemy of the Yiga Clan. There were more personal stories from Paya and Purah and others who had known her. And at the end, Link was asked to light the torches around the statue of the Goddess, at the base of which offerings and flowers had all been piled in memory of Impa.

*

The ride home was subdued. Link let Zelda ride Bliss, but only because she commanded him to let her. The mare was still half-wild, and tended to buck and shy easily, but was far more docile for Zelda than for Link.

They didn't have far to go anyway, since Dueling Peaks stable was less than a day away. They would stay the night and return to Hateno Village the following day.

Bliss was difficult to handle, and it took all of Zelda's concentration to keep to the road and stop the mare from darting away. Link gave her as much direction as he could, encouraging her and giving pointers, leading with Epona and encouraging Bliss to follow, as herd animals were wont to do.

“Zelda, stop!” Link's voice hissed and his bow was drawn, but it was too late—the bokoblins had spotted them. There were two, both on horseback, one wielding a spear and the other a bow. They were weak, but being mounted gave them an extra advantage.

Zelda did freeze, and her tension made Bliss antsy. The horse stamped her feet and tossed her head, inching towards the open field, longing to run for it.

“Stay here,” Link called out, and he was galloping off on Epona, obviously trying to lead the bokoblins away from her. One took the bait, his angry screech ringing in Zelda's ears. She watched with bated breath as Link fired off arrows while riding, one, two, the Bokoblin was thrown from its horse and chasing.

The other started to follow Link, but when his comrade was knocked off, he changed course and headed for Zelda and Bliss.

Zelda cried out and Bliss reared, pawing the air with her front legs in terror and confusion at the fight, and Zelda clung to her as tightly as she could to avoid being thrown. She couldn't dodge or run away from her attacker though, and Link was so far away—She caught sight of him, galloping on Epona like lightning streaking down from the sky. She'd never seen him so angry, so focused, so intense. He drew the Master Sword and stood in the saddle, gaining on the bokoblin with every leaping gallop. The bokoblin screeched and threw his spear at Zelda just as Link and Epona came up behind him. The Master sword slashed out, landing squarely on the back of the bokoblin's head and killing it instantly.

The spear missed, but Bliss reared up again in terror, and this time Zelda was thrown. She landed hard on her side, the wind knocked completely out of her, and lay in the grass fighting to take a breath. She had to get up, the horses would be stamping wildly near her, she could get crushed...she rolled over onto her hands and knees, and pushed herself to her feet. Link had circled Epona around and ended the bokoblin he'd knocked down, and was now urging Epona towards Zelda almost as fast as when he'd charged to attack. Her legs wobbled and she sunk back down to her knees, every breath sending a sharp pain through her side.

“Zelda!” Link launched himself off of Epona's back and was at her side, helping her stand, letting her lean on him. His face was white and frightened, and sweat dripped from his face, dotting her clothes.

“I'm okay.” She reassured him, but she didn't feel okay.

Link sat her down in the grass. “How did you land?” he asked. He pulled a vial out of his pouch and handed it to her.

“On my side.” She drank whatever it was he offered, and to her relief, the pain was slightly numbed. She pulled up the hem of her traveling shirt to inspect where it most hurt. Sure enough, a huge purple bruise had already formed. Likely her hip and leg would be the same.

Link tenderly pressed his fingers against her ribs, until she hissed with pain at the contact.

“Broken,” he said. Anguish was apparent in his face. “Princess, I'm so sorry.”

“You saved me.”

“I put you at risk. I didn't scout ahead for monsters. I let you ride that tempest of a horse....”

“I chose to ride Bliss. I chose to come with you. I choose to live my life here and now, after 100 years of confinement.” She smiled and touched her hand to his cheek. “Thank you.”

Link helped her up. “You can sit on Epona and I'll walk lead her. She's gentle and the stable is just ahead. Maybe tomorrow you can ride. Or we can walk back to Hateno.”

“I might be more sore tomorrow,” Zelda knew from experience. She'd fallen off of a horse before, when she was just learning to ride, though she'd never been thrown before. The palace horses had all been impeccably trained.

It was a long slow journey the rest of the way to the Dueling Peaks stable, which was just like any of the others. They purchased a new saddle for Bliss and a soft bed for Zelda. That night, Link stood beside her unsleeping, one hand on her shoulder, the other on his Master Sword, point-down in front of him. No one questioned him.

Zelda did feel a bit better in the morning, and so they started the journey back home. It was strange to think of the little house in Hateno as home, but Zelda found herself longing to be back there, alone with Link. It would have been a single day's ride from the stable usually, but with Zelda injured and Link walking, it would be at least two.

It didn't help that Link was quieter than usual. Subdued by his guilt? Zelda wished that there was something she could do to distract him.

“We were once intimate at a stable,” she began, and to her satisfaction, Link's head whipped around to look at her. “I don't remember which one though. Woodland? Highland?” She really couldn't remember. They all blurred together in her mind, even back then. “We went out back after supper, when most everyone was getting ready to sleep for the night. It wasn't our first time, but it was the first time that we were together when there were lots of people around. I thought for sure that we were going to be discovered, but a part of me wanted that.”

“To be discovered?” Link asked.

Zelda shrugged. “To have our relationship out in the open. To not have to hide, or keep our trysts only out here in the wild. I thought of it as our world, when we traveled.”

Link looked back ahead at the road. Zelda couldn't imagine what he was thinking.  
“We kept our clothes on, in case we needed to stop quickly, though you did rip my shirt trying to...well, you know. I had changed into a dress for some reason, and it was hiked all the way up around my hips. I was sitting on some of those small crates that they use to store supplies, it was the perfect height for you.”

Now Zelda imagined that Link might be blushing, walking ahead, his hand on the reins as he led the horses.

“Does that memory make you uncomfortable?” she asked.

He didn't look back at her when he answered, “It makes me hard.”

They were quiet for a while, Zelda reliving that amazing secret tryst, and Link imagining it. They walked through lunch, snacking on dried meat and fruit, and then stopped early for supper well before sundown. Link helped Zelda down as gently as he could, then started the fire while she lay on her good side on the blankets they'd borrowed from the stable. They smelled slightly of horses, but they were clean and soft, and would suffice for camping on the way back to Hateno Village. They didn't talk much until after they ate a simple supper of bread, cheese, and baked apples.

“I'd like to look at that bruise again, if you don't mind. Does it hurt much?”

“It does hurt. I feel like...well I feel like I got thrown off of a horse. How come you didn't feel this bad when you get thrown?”

“Depends how you land.” Link said. He knelt beside her, waiting for her nod before lifting her shirt to see the bruise. Today it was purple and black from her underarm to waist, trailing down her hip and thigh. His fingers traced it, his brows drawn in concern.

“Do you want to see the rest of it?” She asked.

He met her eyes and blushed. “Only if you think it's okay.”

“Help me with my pants,” Zelda said. Gently, reverently, Link helped her shimmy out of her riding pants. He caught a glimpse of plain white underwear, but looked away politely and pretended not to see. Instead he focused on the bruise. It wasn't so bad lower down on her thigh. Her ribs and hip had taken the brunt of the impact, it seemed. She wouldn't be able to lay on that side, obviously, but her breathing was improved and she was in good spirits. His fingers lingered at her waist, and Zelda watched him and hardly dared breathe.

“That story you told me today,” Link asked. “Was that true?”

“Yes, of course.” Zelda was surprised.

“It just seems so...unlike me.”

“Why?”

Link was silent for a long moment, then finally he spoke. “When I imagine...being that intimate. I imagine a soft bed, and the privacy of our house in Hateno Village. I imagine that you're my wife and we have all the rest of our days to be together.”

“Oh,” Zelda imagined that scene and tears came to her eyes. Her head drooped and she smiled through her tears. “Oh that would be perfect.”

“Can we do that?” he asked. “Can our first time be like that, this time? Not everyone gets a chance to start over like this.”

“Oh, yes please.” Zelda laid back on the blankets, her eyes closed. Link draped a blanket over her and then went away, just far enough for some privacy, but still where he could see her. Zelda knew what he was doing, but she pretended not to notice. When he returned, he lay on the ground beside her and held her hand until they fell asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Kodiak Sage checking in! I've written this whole story and am editing and posting the chapters as I get a chance. This week has been rough with sick kids, but I haven't forgotten about this story. It's pretty dear to me and it lets out all the cheese and feels that I had over the entirety of BOTW. To much cheese...? Nah. No such thing! <3 Enjoy!

It was a relief to finally cross the bridge in Hateno village and arrive at Link's house. He settled Zelda on a chair padded with blankets and set to tending the horses, unpacking, and cooking supper. The day had been long and painful for Zelda, even riding on gentle Epona and with frequent stops for water and snacks. Link was guiltily attentive, offering his arm for support and not allowing her to do anything at all. 

“I'd like to wash off, if you don't mind,” She said, after they finished eating. I feel...grimy.” She made a face. Her hair was a tangled rat's nest an d her face was oily and dirt-smeared. “I don't expect a royal bath house, the pond by the tree here is fine.” 

“Of course. Do you need help?” 

“I...don't know.” She hadn't thought about that yet. So far Link had been helping her with pretty much everything—and she hadn't really changed clothes. The thought of lifting her shirt over her head made her dizzy, but the thought of Link helping her lift her shirt over her head made her giddy. She looked away from him. “I don't want to make you uncomfortable.” 

“I don't mind,” Link said. He smiled and helped her up. 

In a few minutes they were standing beside the pond, at the shallow end. It wasn't much of a pond, but it would suffice to rinse the dirt off. 

“Gently,” Zelda squeaked, even though she didn't need to. She had her arms half-raised, but her head was kind of stuck. Link stood in front of her, puzzling over how best to extricate her. 

“I might have to cut it off of you,” Link said. She could hear the smile in his voice, even if the shirt kept her from enjoying it. 

“It wouldn't be the first time,” Zelda said.

They didn't need to cut her shirt off though; a little careful wiggling and it was over her head and off, exposing her brilliant bruise to the fading light. She'd forgone a corset for the journey, and instead wore a soft wrap around her chest to keep uncomfortable jiggling to minimum. 

Link untucked the wrap on the side, his fingers careful not to touch skin, and it was loose, falling in ribbons around her waist. 

She turned away from him before she could embarrass him with her bare breasts and pointed pink nipples. “Can you unpin my hair?” Link did, his fingers searching her scalp for the pins, then gently unwinding the long braids. 

When her hair was all loose, she stepped into the brisk water of the pond until it was up to her neck, enjoying the sensation of the cool water on her sweat-soaked body. It eased her aching side and muscles. 

“You could join me,” Zelda suggested. “I hate to inform you, but you smell pretty much the same as Epona right now.” 

Link glared at her over his shoulder, but then his glare faded into awe. Before he could answer, she ducked her head under the water, rubbing her face and eyes and hair as best she could with limited mobility. 

When she surfaced, Link had stripped down to his pants and was walking towards her. That was...unexpected. Her heart skipped a beat at the sight of his bare chest and lean, strong arms. 

“Oh,” She moved towards him and they met in the waist-deep water. Her arms snaked around his neck and her mouth found his. She nearly forgot that she was naked until her nipples brushed his chest, sending shivers of pleasure through her whole body, but she didn't stop kissing him. She pulled him into her, drinking him in with her whole being. 

Link was responding, gasping and breathing heavily against her. His hands kept to her shoulders and hair. Was he trying to be good, or being considerate of conscious of her injury?

Zelda assumed the latter. She had no reservations about touching him. He was just the same as when she'd touched him a thousand times before, and she had missed him, missed this. Her arms roamed his backside from his shoulders down to his hips, then to the front, her fingers dancing under the water at his navel, plucking at the waistband of his waterlogged pants, searching, hoping...His mouth was on her throat, her neck, her collarbone...

Link tensed and pulled away—not all the way, but enough for her to understand. Too much. Too soon. 

“I'm sorry,” She whispered, even though she'd promised herself she wouldn't apologize for loving him anymore. 

“I love you,” Link said. He lay a chaste kiss on her forehead. “I shouldn't have come into the water with you while you were naked if I didn't want...something,” he smiled. 

“Well what did you want?” Zelda asked. 

“This,” he said, and he kissed her mouth again. Zelda thought she might melt completely, or else go mad with the ache—not from her injuries, but from her need for him. A frustrated half-sob tore from her throat and she pushed him away suddenly. This teasing was too much--  
“Damn it Link, I can't just go behind a tree and take care of my problem! You've got to give me something!” 

Link looked stricken, standing in the dark, waist-deep in the pond. Zelda clutched her arms over her chest and cried, even though it hurt, every breath, every movement of her arms, every second that she saw what her frustration was doing to him, hurting him. 

“I'm trying to give you what you want,” he said softly. 

“I know, I know. Please though, just go. Go over to your tree and take care of business, and leave me here incomplete, a failure in every sense of it.” 

“You're not a failure. And I won't leave you, not ever. Come on, we'll get you dried off and figure something out.” 

His patience was still as unfathomable as before. She felt like her old self for a moment, the bratty resentful half-in-love girl that she'd been when they first met, rather than the infatuated woman who was ready to sacrifice anything for him. He held a hand out to her and she took it, head down, tears still coursing down her cheeks. He wrapped her in a blanket and led her to the house, to sit beside the oven still warm from baking bread. She was sullen and silent, but she let herself be tended to, her hair combed out and her nightshirt donned, and led to bed. Link left for a few minutes to change into his own dry sleep clothes. Every second he was gone was like torture. How could she be so selfish? He'd already given her so much, and she was going to act like a child over a little sexual tension? She hadn't been so embarrassed since...well, since before their first time, last time. 

He sat beside her in the hard wooden chair, like usual. Their hands met. 

“Tell me about another time when we were together, before.” Link said softly. 

Zelda was quiet for a minute. She sorted through her memories for one that would amuse him. A light memory for a dark night. “One we made love in the sunshine on Hyrule field, with the horses picketed nearby. You got a sunburn on your backside that was very hard to explain.”

He laughed and she knew that everything would be okay. “How did I explain it?” 

“You said that you fell backwards into the camp fire and got singed. Later we joked that you fell into my fire and got singed, again and again and again. I don't know if they bought it though.” 

“They?” 

“The Zora. We were on our way to look at the Divine Beast. Mipha offered to heal it for you and you turned a very bright red. There was no way you were going to pull your pants down for her, especially--” Zelda stopped. 

“What?” 

“Mipha had feelings for you.” 

“Oh. I kind of got that impression too, when I visited Zora's Domain. The armor she made for me is apparently only given at a betrothal.” 

“Oh.” Zelda was quiet, remembering. “I miss her. I miss all of them. I hope you know...” She sat up so that she could look into his eyes. “I cling to you because you're all I have left. I think that someday I might recover enough to be on my own. I hope I can live without fear and shame for my failures. Thank you for being patient with me. I'm s—I love you.” 

“Zelda,” Link helped her lay back down, but he didn't elaborate. It wasn't until she was asleep that he leaned down and kissed her forehead and said, “I love you.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the nice comments! There will be one more chapter after this, and then chapter 8 is a short epilogue. Chapter 7 as it is tends more towards the E side of ratings than M, so I'm trying to figure out how to deal with that. If I edit it down to be more M, then I'll put the original E scene in my companion piece "Good Knight," for anyone who wants the full smut. Or maybe I'll just leave it. I couldn't find a good guide as to what is M and what is E, I'm kinda just going on feelings here. :/ Thanks for understanding!

Morning brought a new perspective. Zelda felt much better physically, her muscles merely sore rather than aching, and though her bruise was still colorful and tender, it was no longer quite so sensitive. 

She was still sheepish and ashamed of how she'd acted the night before. Tantrums were not becoming of 119 year old princesses, all because of a little sexual tension. She sat quiet at breakfast and then afterwards watched placidly while Link did his sword forms. He didn't mention their late night swim, so neither did she. When he was done he came and sat beside her on the grass, looking out at the valley below. Little wisps of clouds danced across the wide blue sky. Zelda noted that he was in his Blue Champion's Tunic, and that he sat far enough away from her that accidental (or on purpose) touching wouldn't be an issue. 

“Purah and Robbie are back from Kakariko Village today, would you mind going to spend the day with them? You have a lot of research to catch up on after 100 years,” Link said casually. 

“That sounds nice. Should we bring them some lunch?” 

Link looked away. “I won't be going. There's something I have to do.” 

“Oh,” Zelda felt small, and ashamed. “Was it because of--”

“No,” Link smiled at her. “Well, yes. But I'll be back by nightfall. It's nothing to worry about.” 

“Where are you going?” She tried to sound casual as well, but there was a note of panic in her voice. Link was going away. He was leaving her. He was angry about her outburst, he was punishing her for acting like a selfish child. Her mind raced in a million directions. 

“I'll walk you up to the lab,” was all he said. He got to his feet and offered her his hand. That hand, again. She had to resist the urge to spin into him like she had in a ballroom long ago. Maybe someday. Maybe only in her memories.

*

First Link went to Tarry Town via Vah Hesho shrine and the Sheikah slate, gliding down over the lake on his paraglider to the secluded town. He met some people, and made some arrangements. Then he went to Gerudo town via Dago Chisay shrine. In the heat of the desert sun, he pulled out his back and donned his trusty sirwal, top and veil. It never got less humiliating, no matter what color he convinced Sayge to dye it at the Kochi Dye shop. 

The guards let him pass without a problem, as usual. Link always suspected that the recognizable sword on his back stopped them from asking any questions about his flat chest and broad shoulders, as long as he at least pretended to follow their customs. Or perhaps Riju was behind the guards overlooking the letter of the law. Plenty of the Gerudo women in the town gave him an odd look as he passed, but he paid them no mind. He was on a mission, and he was on a deadline. Link headed straight for the jewelry shop. 

“Link! Vasaaq my friend.” Isha said. She pulled Link into a hug. “We in Gerudo town have heard that the Champion defeated the Calamity at last.” 

“With help,” Link admitted. “Princess Zelda sealed him for 100 years until I—until the Champion, I mean—could come and defeat him.”

“The Princess! Is she what brings you to my shop?” 

“She is,” Link said. He was glad that the veil hid his faint flush. “I need you to make her a ring.” 

He dumped a pile of rough gems onto the counter beside them—diamonds, sapphires, rubies, topaz, opals, emeralds—enough to make twenty rings, if he wanted. 

“What kind of ring, that it need be so splendid?” Her voice was wry, but Isha's eyes sparkled as her hand passed over the selection of stones. 

“A wedding ring. I mean to marry the Princess.” 

There was a squeal from the back of the shop, and Cara burst out. “Oh how wonderful!” She nearly fell over herself. “I just love romance! Is she as beautiful as they say in the stories?” 

“More,” Link's smile and dreamy gaze must have said more than he meant, because Isha and Cara both burst into excited giggles. 

“Master Link,” Isha assured him, “I will make a ring worthy of a Princess.” 

 

*

True to his word, Link arrived at the Ancient Tech Lab just as the sun touched the horizon. He greeted Zelda with a familiar but platonic hug, much to her disappointment. Robbie made them dinner, and the four of them chatted about the Sheikah technology, research, and of course Impa. They were trying to figure out how to modify the slate to allow fast travel by more than one person, or else replicate the fast travel function onto another similar slate. When it was time to say goodbye, instead of heading back down to Link's house, Link turned and faced Zelda, serious and solemn. 

“Are you feeling well enough to climb a mountain?” he asked. 

Zelda looked around at the cliffs and hills surrounding them. “Now? I suppose I am. Is everything alright?” 

“I hope so,” Link said. At last he smiled and took her hand, leading her up a gently sloping path up the mountains and along the ridge. At the top, they could see the ocean spread out below, glittering under the waxing moon and reflecting the stars above. It was a calm, cool night and Zelda was happy to be out in it. 

“Is this what you wanted me to see?” She asked. It was a beautiful view, but it could have probably waited until she didn't have a broken rib anymore. It had been feeling better, but the climb had winded her slightly, and her side was beginning to ache. 

“No, not exactly.” Link stepped away from, his hands clenching and unclenching, his jaw jumping with tension. 

“Link, is everything alright? I'm sorry for how I acted yesterday. I was moving too quickly, I know that--” She was blabbering, panicking, everything was going wrong.

“When I told you about my fantasy, that we were married and could live the rest of our days together, did you mean it when you said that's what you wanted?” 

“What?” Shock set in for a moment as she processed what he was saying. “Yes, of course.” 

“Then please, Zelda, will you marry me now?” Slowly, gingerly, Link reached into the pouch on his belt and pulled out a ring. It was gold, and so finely wrought that the gold band was like strands of thread woven into an intricate design. Set into it was a swirl of diamonds and emeralds, polished and glittering like the stars. 

Zelda's breath left her. She clasped her hands under her chin. Her eyes were watering. “You didn't have to do that Link.” 

“You didn't answer my question.” 

“Of course!” She threw her arms around him, despite the broken rib, and the tears in her eyes, and their precarious position at the top of a cliff. He laughed and held her, his face buried in her hair. 

“I've arranged for Kapson to come and marry us as soon as he can make the journey. He's an old Zora priest I know who lives in Akkala. It would mean a lot if you would let him marry us.” 

“I don't mind,” Zelda said. Her eyes were shining with tears. She let Link put the ring on her finger.

“I hope that this makes up for my part in your frustration yesterday. I know that it's unfair to ask you to wait when I can just...” He trailed off. “I can promise not to until after we're married?” 

“A whole night and day? Maybe a week? I wouldn't make you agree to anything so cruel,” Zelda joked with a kindly smile. She kissed him for good measure, her hips bumping against his every so slightly. “Maybe I don't mind if you finish yourself, so long as you let me watch you.” She shivered at the thought of it—seeing his private moments, the look on his face when he finished, watching the pulsing seed spill. Fittingly, it was one of the first things that they had done together below the waist. Before. 

“I--” Link's face flushed. “Okay.” He kissed her and moved his hips to let Zelda grind against him. They clung to each other, and he whispered in her ear, “Tell me about our first time, before.” 

Zelda kissed his neck, his ear, her voice low and throaty against his skin. She remembered it like it was yesterday. Her heart raced and she closed her eyes. “It was after the ball for my 18th birthday. We danced and danced and danced, and I neglected the other guests. My father was furious, but he didn't want to make a scene. I couldn't keep my hands off of you.” 

She nibbled at his earlobe, dry-humping against his bulging erection, breathing hard and fast. “We went back to my room and the guard was someone we knew. I was crying, and then we were kissing, and then we were naked. We had done so much while avoiding that last thing, the final step, but I felt so grown up, so old and wise. I convinced you.” 

She teased him with her hand at his waist. He seemed frozen, hardly moving. His eyes were closed and his mouth was open. Was he willing himself to remember? Was he trying to live it in his mind now, as she told him? “We laid on my bed and I climbed on top of you. It was fast, only a few minutes, but afterwards we were both different.” 

“How?” Link opened his eyes and put his hands on her face. “How were we different?” 

“We were more comfortable together. That was the first time, but there we so many times. You never hesitated with me. You talked to me about whatever was on your mind. I think I did grow up that night. I hadn't awakened my power, but I was a whole woman at last.” 

He pulled her in close. “I want that again,” he said. 

“Are you going to finish?” she asked. “Would you like me to help?” 

“Yes,” Link unbuttoned his pants and let her, at long last, touch him. Long and thick, he spring forward and into Zelda's waiting hands. She knew what to do. She knew what he liked. One hand grasped the base and the other stroked up and down the shaft with a loose fist. Link held her shoulders and tensed, the feelings building up, the pleasure coursing through his body like a shock arrow. Zelda knew. She began running her thumb over the head with every stroke, clutching harder and moving faster. When it was time, he put his face to her neck and groaned again and again as he pulsed seed into Zelda's palm. 

She wiped it on his trousers and then wrapped her arms around his waist. They stayed like that for a long time. Finally, Link said, “There's really no girl-equivalent of that?” 

“It's complicated,” Zelda said. “Don't worry about it.” 

“How does it work?” 

“With fingers. And hand cramps. Sometimes...tongue.” 

“Ah,” Link tried to imagine it and failed. “Do you want me to...try?” 

Zelda laughed. “You don't have to, tonight. You've done plenty.” She looked at her ring as the jewels glinted in the moonlight. “Why did you choose this spot? 

“I used to come up here just to pee off of the edge of the cliff sometimes,” Link admitted. "It's beautiful.” 

Zelda blinked, then laughed, and laughed and laughed. She couldn't remember ever feeling so happy and free. She had a future to look forward to, and the man of her dreams, and soon she was getting married. 

“Thank you,” Zelda said.

“I love you,” Link replied.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the original version, FYI. Thanks for reading!

Though Link and Zelda hadn't invited anyone except Purah and Robbie as witnesses to their wedding, word had somehow spread, and over the few days that it took for old Kapson to make the journey from Akkala, strange and varied people began arriving in quiet little Hateno village. The first to arrive was Prince Sidon, to whom Kapson had apparently sent a messenger. Most of the villagers had never met a Zora before, or anyone quite as enthusiastic as Sidon in general, but his charm, stories, and gift of huge cartload of luminous stone won them over quickly. Next Teba, Saki, and Tulin arrived from Rito Village, causing another stir of excitement. They brought with them a gift of beautiful white cold weather gear for Princess Zelda, along with a small harp, just like the one Zelda used to play when she was young. Yunobo and his brother rolled in too, and Zelda wondered how in the world word of their wedding reached Death Mountain so quickly. They brought with them a small goddess statue to be blessed and placed by the tree where Link and Zelda were to be married, to commemorate the event.

Then Hylians from all over the land began to trickle in, setting up tents on the hills below the village, making cheerful little camp fires in the forest.

“Do you know all these people?” Zelda asked in amazement. The visitors brought gifts of a few rupees, food and produce, cloth and grain, jewelry, weapons, anything that they could find of value to give. Link knew them all, their names and stories. They joked and laughed with him, teased him about his appetite and asked to see the sword that sealed the darkness. And then Link introduced them to Zelda, Princess of Hyrule and Goddess Incarnate, Sealer of the Calamity and, most importantly to them, bride-to-be of their friend and hero, Link. Zelda flushed a rosy pink in her cheeks and accepted their bows and curtsies with grace and charm. Her love for Link only grew with each heartfelt thanks and congratulations, which she didn't think was possible. Most of them didn't stay long, just long enough to offer their congratulations and then they were on their way.

Finally the Tarry Town contingent arrived, slowed by Kapson's old age. He was helped by Hudson and the others, and they brought laughter and good news of the birth of Rhondson and Hudson's new baby Bikson.

*

The wedding was in the morning three days after that night on the hilltop, with festivities planned to span the entire rest of the day. “But we'll all leave by nightfall,” Bolson sang with a wicked wag of his eyebrows. Link blushed. Zelda giggled.

Everyone gathered by the pond in front of Link's house overlooking the village. Someone had decorated the trees with silver and white streamers, and Kass played the accordion to set the mood. Zelda wore a long silk dress in Hylian Blue that Link had borrowed from Riju for the occasion, and Link wore his Champion's Tunic. It matched his eyes.

When Kapson said the words, Zelda felt a peace fall over her, the likes of which she hadn't felt since her power first awoke. Back then, she had knelt in the dark field with Link dying in her arms, and the peace had been marred by despair. Now, she held Link in her arms in front of the pond by his house—their house—in Hateno Village, and her heart was filled with joy. But the Goddess was present, she knew. Zelda could feel the blessing wash over her like a wave of euphoric pleasure.

She shivered, and Link flashed her a look of concern, but Zelda reassured him with a firm grip of her hand. They'd hardly stopped touching each other since that night on the mountain above the village, and he'd slept beside her in the bed, his whole warm length a solid wall of comfort against her.

“Congratulations,” Kapson said. He stepped forward and clasped his hands over Zelda and Link's, his wide mouth smiling, chuckles rolling off of him. “I am honored to have been a part of this union.”

Link and Zelda kissed, their friends cheered, and flower petals blew in the breezed. It was perfect.

*

 

Everyone departed before sunset, as promised. Their little house was back to it's former tidy sparseness. It would have felt empty, but there was so much promise in it and so much to look forward to.

When they were finally alone, Zelda took Link's hand and led him up the stairs to the bed. Her eyes were shining with happiness, so full of love that she might start crying, as she had many times throughout the day. Link beamed at her with his usual quiet serenity, then leaned forward and kissed her gently on the lips. Her arms went around him and she thought that if she could freeze one moment in time forever, it would be this moment—the end of the darkness and the beginning of the rest of her life.

“Are you alright?” Zelda murmured between kisses. He was trembling against her.

“I'm...I don't know. Nervous?” Link flushed and rubbed his hair with one hand. “I've never...or at least I don't remember ever...How will I know what to do?”

“You're a virgin again,” Zelda mused, “how quaint.” She shrugged her arms out of the shoulders of her dress and pulled it off, then turned and swept her hair aside so that he could undo her corset.

“Don't make fun of me,” Link grumbled.

“I promise I'm not. I'll help you. We've been together before. You said yourself that kissing me is like...swinging the Master Sword, or riding a horse. I'm sure it will all be that way.”

“What if it's not? What if I hurt you? What if it's terrible?” Link's face was growing stricken.

“You're a fast learner,” Zelda said. The corset was unlaced. She set it aside and turned back to face him.

Link's expression changed from panic to awe at the sight of her bare chest loose from it's bounds, unobscured by darkness or water or shame. Her underwear was soon gone as well, and he admired her wholly. In all his travels through Hyrule, he'd never seen anything so beautiful.

Zelda helped him out of his tunic and shirt, pants and boots, and finally his underwear. Then it was her turn to look, to drink him in and fill her mind with the knowledge of having him completely, no secrets or sneaking, no doom hanging over them. And physically...the scars accented chiseled abs, lean muscular shoulders and arms, a chest that could deflect a blow from a Hinox, and then...his arousal was fully charged, seeming to reach towards her. There was no shame in that body, no hesitation. He was strength incarnate, unyielding and firm.

“Link,” Zelda pressed herself against him as if she was trying to meld her body into his. They fit together perfectly, like puzzle pieces, like a key and a lock. Her soft curves and pillowy bosom, his firmness and angles. It was like it was meant to be.

They were kissing again, frantic and intense, their lips tearing at each other, their bodies as close as possible without intercourse. Zelda pulled him down to the bed and lay beneath him, the weight of him above her making her ache with wanting him.

“Kiss my breasts,” Zelda groaned, “You always used to kiss my breasts,” she was pleading, instructing, losing her cool. Link obeyed, dipping his head down to focus his attention on the pale skin of her bosoms. When he kissed the nipple at last she gasped, her toes curling with pleasure at the long-forgotten sensation. Link noticed her reaction and went again, his eyes watching her face even as his mouth lapped and sucked at her nipple.

Zelda snaked her hand down between him to touch his erection. When her hand met flesh, Link tensed, but her familiar grip, the sliding and caressing helped him to relax again.

“Are you ready?” Zelda asked him. Her legs were spread, her wet opening prepared to receive him.

“I'm ready,” Link confirmed. He allowed Zelda to guide him inside her, his eyes closing and his body tensing at the intensity of the feeling. Zelda groaned, feeling him fill her up, squeezing her core around him, arching her back to get the angle just right...

“I know what to do,” Link said. There was awe in his voice as he began to rock his hips, gently at first, then harder, pulling in and out in a steady rhythm. Zelda put her hands on his shoulders and wrapped her legs around his waist. He did know what to do. It was as if they had done it a thousand times before, like they were back in her room in the palace, trying desperately to be quiet. But now they didn't need to be quiet. Their nearest neighbors were a 20 minute walk down the hill, so Zelda let herself cry out with pleasure as she reached for that crest.

Link seemed surprised by everything, his eyes wide. He found his voice and whispered her name, again and again and again as he thrust into her.

Zelda burst through first, her entire body clenching and locking up, her shout was half of a sob, her fingers dug into Link's shoulder blades, and then she felt him pause between strokes, his breath ragged and his eyes screwed shut, the spasms of ecstasy taking him over. When he opened his eyes, he was different. It was like she said before. Being together this way changed them. Zelda buried her face in his neck and pulled him down onto her, letting the whole weight of him bring her back down from that high place of pleasure, and into the closeness of now.

“Zelda?” Link's voice was soft, and...strange.

“Mmmm.” Was all she could manage.

“That did something to me,” he said. He lifted himself onto his elbows to look down at her. “I feel different.”

Zelda smiled. “We're one now, in the eyes of the Goddess. Joined in marriage and in body. Blessed.”

“No, I'm...I'm remembering things.” He closed his eyes again, as if he was in pain, then put one hand to his head. He extricated himself from her and sat up, and Zelda sat with him. They were messy and tangled in the sheets, and Zelda didn't dare hope, she didn't dare wish...

“It's like a flood, or a cascade, just...Princess...” He hadn't called her Princess since those first days after defeating Ganon, before familiarity and lack rules let them just be Link and Zelda.

“Is it your memory...? Oh Hylia...!” Zelda wasn't sure if she was excited or terrified. Would this change things? Would he want the protocol and the finery and the ceremony again? They finally had gotten to know each other again, fallen in love all over again, was this going to change that?

He was quiet. Too quiet. Zelda was bubbling with a thousand questions, but she managed to keep it to one. “How do you feel?”

Link put one hand to his chest. “Whole.”

“Still like yourself?”

“Yes. Like...there was a piece of me that was blocked off, buried under something huge and heavy. And now that feeling is gone. I feel like I'm all of me now, instead of just a part.”

He smiled, and it was like sunshine. It was like cool water when your throat is parched. It was like Link, before, when they had been alone and free to just be together.

“Oh,” Zelda cried again, her arms around him. When he kissed her, it was just the same. She could feel it too. It was Link, through and through. He wiped her tears away and pulled her into a close embrace. There was nowhere safer in the world.

After a few minutes, Zelda began to laugh. “So Link,” She looked up at him and smiled a mischievous smile at him, “Tell me about a time when we were intimate together before.”

Link laughed. “Well, there was this one time in Gerudo Town...”

 

The End


	8. Epilogue

The morning sunlight came too soon through the window, so Link and Zelda ignored it. It was only the necessity of food and nature that tore them from their bed. 

“Link!” Zelda stood in front of the little sign in front of their house. Link looked up from the cookpot where he was simmering something that smelled delicious. He trotted over to her. 

“It says 'Link and Zelda's House' now! Who did that?”

Link laughed “Probably Bolson. He's the one who made the sign in the first place.” 

“Oh,” Zelda looked at it, tears threatening yet again. “We'll have to thank him. All of them really.” 

“He also left us some slats and nails so I can modify that bedstead we have to make it more suitable for two. I'll work on it this afternoon.” He was so cheerfully at ease, so comfortable with himself and her in a way that he hadn't been only yesterday. 

“What if I have plans this afternoon?” Zelda said. She turned towards him and pushed some hair away from his eyes. Hair the color of wet sand on a sunny day. Eyes like the sky just after a rainstorm. 

“It depends on what sort of plans.” He kissed her gently. Lips the same flushed pink of her perfect nipples. Skin like fresh cream still warm in the bucket. 

“I think you know,” She smiled and they sunk down into the grass, and the pot boiled over and neither of them cared a lick.


End file.
